Assignments > Identity Journal 9

Due on Tue, 11/30 @ 11:59PM.

Consider the following quote from Ch. 1 (Atlas of AI):

“Since antiquity, the business of mining has only been profitable because it does not have to account for its true costs: including environmental damage, the illness and death of miners, and the loss to the communities it displaces. In 1555, Georgius Agricola, known as the father of mineralogy, observed that “it is clear to all that there is greater detriment from mining than the value of the metals which the mining produces.” In other words, those who profit from mining do so only because the costs must be sustained by others, those living and those not yet born. It is easy to put a price on precious metals, but what is the exact value of a wilderness, a clean stream, breathable air, the health of local communities? It was never estimated, and thus an easy calculus emerged: extract everything as rapidly as possible. It was the “move fast and break things” of a different time” (p. 26)

Please answer one of the following questions on Canvas:

1. In your view, what would it mean for a tech firm to account for the true costs of producing its products and services? Do you know of any positive steps that these firms have taken to address their ‘footprint?’ Is it enough? Why or why not?
2. If companies and governments were actually required to account for their ‘externalities’ (the true costs of producing a good or service), how do you think this would change our tech landscape? Would there be more R&D dollars dedicated to recycling materials and generating energy sustainably? Would the idea of ‘innovation’ become more expansive (measured in terms of their economic / social / environmental value)? What do you think?